The present disclosure relates to a method and system for paint matching and re-touching a painted surface, including, e.g., a hood of a car, which has been chipped or scratched. New cars are typically painted over all their exterior surfaces with one or more layers of colored paint and a clear coat applied over the colored paint. Even before a first sale of a new car, the painted surfaces of the car may be chipped or scratched. This typically occurs in the shipping process and in preparing the car for sale, and in a used car, the chipping and scratching occurs in the ordinary operation of the car on roads. The chips and scratches typically extend down into the clear coat and the paint, without reaching the underlying body panel, hood, or bumper. In many instances, a car will receive a large number of such scratches and chips, the most common locations being on the hood and front bumper, but also on any body panel or other painted surface.
The method generally used at present to repair such scratches and chips is to address each chip and scratch individually and apply a paint and/or clear coat to each chip and each scratch. This may be done by airbrushing or by applying the paint through a needle and syringe, or other pumping device. Such operations are time consuming both in preparation and application.